As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker explores the possibility of running for president in 2016, he’s facing a lot of uncomfortable questions from reporters and others. His solution so far is to try to avoid them, but he’s quickly learning it’s not that simple. Read more
Every other year during election season, Americans United reminds clergy nationwide to stay out of partisan politics.
Most religious leaders have no problem respecting the federal tax code’s prohibition against campaign intervention by houses of worship and other non-profits that are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Read more
Just as author and humorist Mark Twain was once pronounced dead prematurely, so too it seems is the case with the Religious Right.
Last week, Politico published a story on “how Republicans lost the culture war.” Author Bill Scher writes that the GOP “stopped being savvy on abortion,” “got weird about birth control” and “bet wrong on gay marriage.” Read more
As we continue to observe fallout in the wake of the Hobby Lobby decision, which curtails workers’ access to birth control, it seems an unexpected problem has emerged: Some allies of President Barack Obama want exemptions from laws, too. Read more
If anyone was still unconvinced prior to yesterday that the National Day of Prayer (NDP) is little more than a fundamentalist Christian political rally, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson’s rant on Capitol Hill should have erased any doubts.
During an event organized by the National Day of Prayer Task Force (a non-profit run by conservative evangelical Christians) and attended by members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dobson slammed President Barack Obama, calling him the “abortion president.” Read more
The ongoing scandal over the Internal Revenue Service’s heightened scrutiny of Tea Party groups took another twist yesterday when evangelist Franklin Graham complained that the ministry founded by this father, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), was also investigated by the tax agency. Read more
Thursday is the National Day of Prayer, and if you want to pray, by all means have at it.
I’ll let you in on a little secret: You can pray (or not) as dictated by your very own conscience. You don’t need any branch of the government to tell you what to do when it comes to religion. Read more
Washington is abuzz with preparations for Monday’s inauguration. A number of events, private and public, are taking place.
Among them is something called the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast (PIPB), which takes place Monday morning at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
Despite its name, this is not an official inaugural event. It’s sponsored by a variety of fundamentalist Christian groups and “messianic” Jews. Featured guests include TV preacher Pat Robertson, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Joseph Farah, founder of the website WorldNetDaily. Read more
I spent Friday and Saturday observing the Values Voter Summit (VVS), an annual Religious Right gathering in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, the Heritage Foundation, Liberty University and other groups.
I attend every year. It’s educational! Here are some things I learned this year: Read more
Who gets to decide how you run your life: you or a small group of aggressive religious leaders?
In a nation that separates religion and government, the answer ought to be easy. Apparently it’s not. Read more
